Utahhhhh, People Working Together

So these are all the pics from our trip to Utah! In one post! I took minimal photos and got most of these from J and our moms. Yay for other people taking photos. Without further ado!

Tuesday // So this is us flying over Connecticut. IT. IS. SO. GREEN. I actually really love the green. When we first moved here, we kept driving around trying to find neighborhoods and suburbs, and there weren't that many. Seeing an aerial view, it makes sense! It's mostly like, houses tucked in the woods, which is v cute. 

Cookies and cream frappuccino at the Minneapolis airport. THE BEST. I can't remember what this place was called, but it was v good. Bless coffee shops. They are like my home away from home.

Anddddddd here we are flying over Utah lol. Alllllll suburbs and brown! Is there somewhere that has the suburbs like Utah, with the green like Connecticut? Let me know. In the market, here!

I was telling J he could be a model because he has a beautiful resting face. This was the photo I took afterward of his resting face lol. Gosh, especially once he gets his man bun he gonna be on that model train!

We stopped at Pizzeria Limone before we even went home. Straight from the airport, my babies. Yes, it's that good. Also I forgot to get a picture of the divino, but it is still the best dessert pizza in all the land. Oh, maybe Max Brenner ties or is better? Idk. 

So we use Rover (formerly DogVacay) when we are out of town/gone all day. It's like Airbnb, but for dogs. I love it because it's just someone's house and you know your pup is well taken care of. If you sign up for it, use this link so I can get $20 for T. #notsponsored. Just a fan. When I really wanted a dog I signed up for it. Watching a few dogs definitely held me over until we could get Tucker!

Anyway, Tucker made this bulldog friend last week while I was in the city for school, and he was there again on the 4th of July! They are cute. It makes us feel like we need to get a bulldog friend for him...

The rest of the day we just swam and chilled! Utah is flat, so we were able to watch fireworks (it was the 4th of July) from my inlaw's backyard! It was so nice! They went on for a long time too! I miss them haha. In Connecticut, each town does them on a different day, and you have to park and take shuttles to the places to view them, so it's pretty crowded. (We never went, this is just what I heard. So if it's wrong, forgive me.)

Wednesday // The next morning we picked up Kneader's breakfast for J's fam! I make a pretty mean French toast with sweet syrup, but nothing beats Kneader's. 

This is J pre-haircut. Keep reading to see him post-haircut.

This is what like, 13 orders of French toast look like, in case you're wondering. They had to take some out and hand them to us separately, because they couldn't fit through the window lol. 

Also, lol. So on this trip I was still in school. Like, we left on a Tuesday, and I had class Thursday and the next Tuesday. I kept forgetting? I had papers and stuff due though. So on Wednesday (and for like 1 hour early Thursday morning) I wrote a paper. It was supposed to be 10 pages with 8 references, but I just did 8 pages with 6 references because I'm over it. I wasn't expecting to get a good grade, but guess what? This girl got a 90/100 lol. Also, on that note, I studied for a research final the night before and the morning train ride to. Guess what I got? 104/100 lol. I got every single question right, including the extra credit!

All of this is to say that I think I do better in school when I miss some days and don't do any of the reading, lol!!!

So our friends own JZ Style Salon in American Fork, and it is seriously the cutest ever! We always go when we go back to Utah. If you haven't been, YOU. NEED. TO. It has such a cute, fun vibe and all the girls are so nice. Like I need to get them to decorate my house because the interior design there is 10/10. 

Anyway, I got my bangs back this time! I feel like I am my true self with bangs. When we were driving home, J was like, "Welcome back!" lol. I got them choppier this time, so they don't have to always look so perfect. I am v excited!

Also this is J's parent's cat. He was laying in the sink and then I tucked him in. We bonded.

That night we had a birthday party for J! This is my nephew swimming lol. 

My side of the fam came straight from the airport. They were just in Spokane visiting my grandma and I am jealous. I love Spokane.

Thursday // We went to Beans and Brews for breakfast. I am sad they don't do a points card anymore because I was like, SO CLOSE to getting a free drink. And they do 24 oz hot chocolate there which is amazing. The road getting off the freeway to AF Canyon is one of my favorite views in UT. 

Then we drove up to Tibble Fork. It was a fave of ours when we lived there. I don't know what construction they did, but it looks really pretty! I would be really interested to see before and after photos.

We swam for a bit and then went to lunches! I went to lunch with one of my friends from my old work who I LOVE AND MISS SO. MUCH. It was good to chat and catch up. People are cool and doing cool things. It's fun to be gone for a bit and then come back and hear what has changed!

J went to Station 22 with his mom! How cute is this picture he took lol. I found it on his Google Photos. I just want my sons to love me as much as J loves his mom! 

I can't remember what happened after that. Probably we swam, because that's what we did in all our spare time lol. Do you think I got tan? Cause guess what, I didn't. One of these days I'm going to go to frickin' Hawaii or something and just get so tan. Just so I can say I was tan once in my life. 

For dinner my mom and I went to Tsunami! It was SO GOOD. So I thought the roll I liked was called Sean Connery, but it's actually the Honeybadger that is my favorite. It has these little crunch onions that are SO GOOD and is wrapped in avocado. GET IT. We sat at the bar and chatted with the guy making the sushi. It was such a funny experience. When we first sat down, my mom jokingly was like, "You don't mind if we watch you, do you?!" Just to be funny, ya know? And the guy was like, "Well, it used to make me nervous but I am used to it now! So it's fine!" And we were like.... "Good?" Lol.

AND THEN there was tofu in one of the rolls. My mom is like, weird about tofu for some reason. So she was trying to pick it out of a piece of sushi but is like, beginner chopstick level. So I was telling her it's like a little surgery and was picking it out for her. Then, we looked up and the sushi chef was like, "What are you guys doing???" And we started laughing and were like, "She just wanted to taste it without tofu!" "I'm just curious!" And he was just like, "You're playing Operation!" Lol. 

Needless to say, I would definitely sit at the bar again.

So this next part is way sad. I wanted to hot tub and watch The Bachelorette. So we like, got some treats and drinks (ok they were already there but we got them out of the fridge and stuff) and got all settled in to watch it. AND THERE WASN'T A NEW EPISODE.

Why do they do this to us, you guys? I mean honestly BE CONSISTENT. We just chatted instead and it was pleasant. 

Friday // We went to breakfast with J's mom at The Original Pancake House. I got the eggs Benedict and it was A+. They give you SO MUCH food there! It's v good though. 

Right after that I went to lunch with my friend Leah and got açai bowls! It was good to catch up! 

When I got back I swam for a bit and then J and I got Orange Peel. J gets the Orange Burst (or something like that) and I get this. I saw the recipe on Utah Grubs and let me tell you. IT'S SO GOOD! Boba, man. 😋

Friday was the night of J's bachelor party (we were there for a wedding), so I hung out with my mom. We went through all the stuff J and I had at her house from living there last year. It felt good to get organized! Then we got snow cones from Hokulia, aka the best snow shack ever. Are there snow cones in Connecticut or New York City? I need one, bad.

So also we went through old photos. It was so funny. My mom put all our profession photos into a photo album, and in my 3 year old and 4 year old photos I am dressed in the exact same outfit hahahahaha. She said she feels bad about it; I just lol. I guess I grew like 0% those years?

Also we found this vintage photo of Trixie with our old dog, Buster. This photo was taken in 2001 YOU GUYS. She just died in 2017. It made us feel so weird when we found it. We were like, "She was almost 17 or 18?!?!" My mom is convinced we got her in the summer and she was smaller than this. So, it was like a Twilight Zone. Also notice how she was all black! The white on her was just grey because she was so old haha. Oh, and Buster was a Scottish and Boston terrier mix. They say he was pretty ugly but I think he's a cutie. I like his ears.

Saturday // We took a family picture with J's family. This is my mom doing a test photo on me after I set up the settings haha. Awkward turtle for sure.

The family picture! We did really well matching for it being a very last minute thing! Proud.

Then we went to see my sister's new house. J hadn't seen it so he got the grand tour! My niece was like so excited to show us her room lol. She turned on Taylor Swift and made us all dance hahaha. Also idk what my nephew is doing in the picture but it's funny and cute.

So it was also J's birthday (well it was technically the day after we got home, but we celebrated it there). If you remember from my last trip, my mom had this bathrobe that I was OBSESSED WITH.  They found them at Downeast for like $20 and I was like, "Why didn't you buy so many?!" So my sister got J one for his birthday, but then was like, "I know Em will steal it so I got her one too" lol. She is very right. I love bathrobes. 

Here's what me and J would look like if we were parents lol.

Then we went back to J's parent's house and swam for a bit. 

Then we got ready for the wedding. This is J post haircut. SMOKIN', MAN. He could model like... a men's fragrance.

Some pics from the wedding we went to! It was seriously the cutest ever! The bride had a daughter and the groom brought her up there during the ceremony and asked if he could be her dad forever. She said yes and he gave her a necklace and IT WAS THE CUTEST THING IN THE WORLD. Like writing it now I have goosebumps. SOOOO CUTE. Also, J was the best man and gave a lil' speech lol. It was cute as well.

Sunday // We left! My mom is still feeding Skully, the feral cat I have been trying to condition to be domesticated for like 2 years lol.

We munched on some candy sushi my sis gave J for his birthday on the ride home. It was v good!

All in all it was a successful trip! It confirmed for us that we want to be in the West! So we are v excited for our next move there! It takes flippin' forever to get to Utah from Connecticut, so it will be nice to be like a one or two hour plane ride away in the future! Thanks to everyone in Utah who spent time with us! You all made it a good trip!

XOXO

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E

P.S. The title of this post comes from this song, which my friend Sydney introduced me to. I sing it all the time. Especially when in Utah lol. 

Staycation: Boston!

IT'S BEEN A MINUTE! Ok so I have this new thing where I like to put vertical images side by side, but when I do it through coding it throws off the number of posts that show up on my home page. So, I did these in Photoshop instead, and it took a minute! 

But alas I am finally posting all of this. Hey, also, does anyone have a good website that prints blogs into books? I think I am going to delete some of the old posts here once they are in book form.

ANYWAY. So back to when my mom came to visit, we drove up to Boston for the day! When my mom was planning her trip, she was really pushing staying over night in Boston. I was like, "Let's just drive up for the day?" And she was like, convinced it wouldn't be enough time there. Well, well, well. Guess who is always right? This girl!

Nah, jk.

But actually just driving up for the day was a perfect amount of time for us! We headed out at 7:00ish and got home around 9:00 or 10:00. Not too shabby!

I love how clean Boston is in comparison to New York! It seems a lot smaller and quainter to me. And QUIETER. 

All their window boxes with flowers are SO CUTE!! 

So for a little breakfast we went to Tatte Bakery. The pastries weren't my favorite but the breakfast sandwiches looked AMAZING!! Next time that is definitely what I am getting!

Every time I take a picture like this I pat myself on the back for being good at Instagramming/blogging.

After we ate we started the Freedom Trail. I am 0% a history person, but it was fun to walk so much and see so much! Walking is my favorite way to see a city. This is my cute mom. I used to not post about family on here cuz privacy or whatever, but then also in my journal I will never have photos of family? Which is weird to me, so I am posting things again lol.

Next we went to a cemetery where all the famous people were buried. Also, does anyone know what this little face on the headstones means? It was everywhere. 

Like the streets in Boston are so cute?

I am a good person to have on vacations cause I'll call you name and bug you to get cute candid photos that you won't appreciate. 

Guys this is my husband? Like I don't even know.

So they turned this ancient church into a CHIPOTLE!?!?!?!? Really, America? REALLY.

Ok I have to LOL. So, this is the Freedom Trail. Like, you can just follow this path that's in the sidewalk. When we first saw it, my mom was like, "Oh! I bet that's the freedom trail!" And I was like, "No, I bet that's for blind people to get around the city." And she was like, "????" But in Tokyo they literally have little bumpy strips across the whole city for people who were blind, so it's not a far stretch? But also it's OBVIOUSLY for the Freedom Trail and I'm just an idiot lol.

Remember in junior high when these types of pictures were *very* cool?

Of course we had to go to Little Italy. My mom went to Italy a little while ago and has been OBSESSED ever since.

So my mom and J stopped to get pizza. It didn't sound good to me so I didn't get any. While they were walking out I was hiding behind a tree and acting like a paparazzi yelling things at them. They both laughed and I got the CUTEST genuine smile photos!!! I got a really good one of my mom but it's close up and I know if she ever saw it she would be like, "Why did you post that!!! Look how close it is to my face!!!" But I THINK IT'S CUTE OK.

LIKE HOW CUTE IS J HERE BECAUSE I ACTUALLY CAN'T HANDLE IT.

So I am trying this new thing when I travel, where like instead of waiting for everyone to move to get a "good shot" I just take the photo with the tourists in it. I feel like it is more real? Obviously, I guess. But I guess I feel like it captures the place/monument/whatever better.

Lemme tell you, I reallllllly appreciate living by water! It's so pretty and so nice.

New England style homes 10/10. I love shake siding and shingles and shutters. Dream home material for sure!

At the end-ish of the Freedom Trail you can take a ferry back to the Boston Aquarium. 

Remember when we went to that really good farm fresh restaurant in Maine? Well, they had on in Boston too! It's called BGood and I would HIGHLY recommend!

Next we rode the boats at the park!

So people were walking back and forth over this bridge. They stopped for us to get this picture and then a guy was like, "You know, we don't just do that for anyone!!!" And I thought it was so nice and funny. It's always nice when people aren't super mean to tourists lol.

OK CUTEST THING ALERT. So these kids were playing with their grandpa and this ball. One of them had a bad throw and it went into the pond. We went around on our boats, got off, and walked around for a bit, only to get on the bridge and see this grandpa was still waiting for the ball to come back. It kept coming back, but was still far enough away he couldn't get it. So finally this BAE GRANDPA GETS INTO THE POND TO GET THE BALL FOR HIS GRANDKIDS. It was the actual cutest thing.

Oh, and shortly before this someone else proposed to his girlfriend and everyone clapped.

And that's a wrap! It was a v fun trip and v fun to see my mom. I love that everywhere out here is so close! It's so neat to be able to drive to Boston and back in a day, or go into New York for school and come back home to Connecticut. It's definitely something we are trying to take advantage of while we are out here!

XOXO

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E